Aftermath

We were up and about at 6am this morning. Our pre-launch duties are as follows:

- Load wetsuits, booties, food, drinks & towels onto the boat
- Wipe the boat down
- Help clients on with their lifejackets

Once we are out at sea and have arrived at our shark-spotting point, our duties are:

- Assist with anchoring of the boat
- Help get cage tied to the side of the boat
- Look out for sharks!
- Hand out wetsuits & booties to clients
- Help said clients with getting the wetsuits on
- Help them get masks & weighbelts on
- Hand out towels when they get out of the cage
- Sooth those with sea sickness
- Help with data collection

There is a marine biologist called Frank who works on the boat & he collects basic data on the sharks we see - size, sex, behaviour and, most importantly, characteristics/markings on the shark & especially the dorsal fin. The markings on the dorsal fin are how the sharks are identified and there are individual sharks who return to the area year after year.

We saw 10 different sharks today!!! I decided to go into the cage for a bit and I'd forgotten how cold the water is (about the same as we have in Scotland!!) BUT I hadn't forgotten how exciting it is to see a great white shark up close & personal :-)

On the way back, we cruised past Geyser Rock which is home to thousands of sealions - the main reason the sharks are here in the first place! And there we witnessed the aftermath of a predation!! A big female white shark had thrown herself up the rocks and captured an adult seal and we watched as she consumed her prey!!

We only had one trip today so we chilled out this afternoon & it was my turn to cook - spaghetti bolognese :-) - and we watched 'Iron Man' on DVD.